


kyungsoo could run me over with a car and i'd say thank you

by storyop



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: (cranked this one out in three days for soo’s bday go me), M/M, also fifty points to whatever house you're in if you guess my exo bias first try, ft. one (1) vine reference and a mini history lesson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 17:00:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13345572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyop/pseuds/storyop
Summary: if you ask chanyeol how he and kyungsoo met, he’ll say kyungsoo almost killed him, and he’ll be right. this is usually when kyungsoo, one hand pinching chanyeol’s ear, takes over and explains that there was a cat involved and it wasn’t completely his fault, really, and chanyeol got a boyfriend out of it so why’s he complaining?





	kyungsoo could run me over with a car and i'd say thank you

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOO I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUU
> 
> this was supposed to be like 3k..... oops?
> 
> always, always for jonghyun

it happens like this: chanyeol has never bought a car. it’s a justified decision; he doesn’t have a lot of money lying around, he doesn’t see the need for it, and his legs look better where people can see them. so he just rides his bike around town, waving to the old ladies doing their grocery shopping on his way to doing his own errands. 

except today, there’s a cat in the road. 

now, chanyeol loves animals of all shapes and sizes, having to fight the urge to adopt a new pet every other day. (he already has a ferret and a puppy at home and they’re definitely quite a handful all by themselves, even if his hands are larger than most.) so being the considerate biker that he is, he swerves, out into the middle of the road — right into the path of a car that’s also braking for the cat. 

for what feels like an eternity, all he feels is pain and darkness, and he’s at least 75% sure he’s dying.  _ you idiot _ , he laments, eyes squeezed shut,  _ you haven’t even written a will yet. who’s going to get toben and kai?  _

it takes a second for him to register that someone’s speaking to him, small hands patting at his chest and his neck. “oh my god! are you dying?”

chanyeol cracks his eyes open. and promptly flails, arm screaming in protest, because leaning in front of his face is the most  _ gorgeous _ man he has seen in his entire twenty four years on the planet. big eyes, plump lips, brows thicker than his ass… 

“you,” he says hoarsely, “are the most beautiful person i’ve ever laid eyes on.” 

“you’re definitely dying,” Gorgeous Guy says, nodding slightly, but there’s a small smile on his face. “you’re an idiot, by the way — you’re lucky you got out of this with just a broken arm.” 

“you almost ran me over,” chanyeol realizes slowly. “you almost ran me over, and you’re calling  _ me _ an idiot?” he doesn’t even mind. 

Gorgeous Guy just shoots him an unimpressed glare. “can you stop moving? you’re just going to make your arm worse. the ambulance will be here soon.” he rubs at his (beautiful) forehead with his (beautiful) hands. “i’m sorry for almost running you over.” 

“it’s okay,” chanyeol says, smiling as large as he can without exposing his five hundred teeth and looking like a maniac. “you clearly also appreciate the value of cat. and you. are beautiful.” 

“so you’ve said,” Gorgeous Guy says drily. “i think the pain’s messing up your thinking. you don’t even know my name.”

“hey, i’m chanyeol,” he prompts. 

“they’re here,” Gorgeous Guy replies, and they’re surrounded by sirens and chanyeol is being lifted and all of a sudden it hurts a lot more than it did a second ago. despite his best efforts, he feels himself slipping into unconsciousness, and he cranes his neck (it  _ hurts _ ), trying to catch one last glimpse of the man who has officially changed his entire life.

 

 

chanyeol finally gets to put a face to the name a week later. he’s at work, talking to a stressed-out six year old who can’t get to sleep, when his phone buzzes in his pocket. when he has a free second, he pulls it out to see a,  _ Hello, this is Kyungsoo  _ from an unknown number.

_ who tf is kyungsoo _ , he types back, before shoving his phone back in his pocket and forgetting about it for the next several hours. 

it’s hard, helping to run an orphanage sometimes, but they have the absolute best staff and he considers every single one of the kids his own. they have seven total, being in a smaller city, and each of the kids have their own favorite staff member. chanyeol is proud to say he’s staked the biggest claim in the hearts of a grand three out of seven children. baekhyun always tells him it’s ridiculous that he’s being competitive when it comes to who the kids like best, but it’s not like he can help it. 

it’s even tougher with a broken arm, so he lets baekhyun and minseok do most of the work with the kids, and spends most of his time doing paperwork instead. he curses Gorgeous Guy (who, no, he has not stopped thinking about) for not putting his dominant hand out of commission. 

he can’t wait until his arm heals up so he can get back to making the dresser for sarah’s birthday. she’s one of their quieter kids, and for whatever reason she’s one of baekhyun’s biggest fans, always following him around and clinging to his hand. (chanyeol’s pretty sure baekhyun bribes her with ice cream or something — which they are most definitely not allowed to do, in order to be fair to all the kids. nasty rule-breaking demon, that byun baekhyun.) she’s turning six and going to start kindergarten soon, so at baekhyun’s suggestion he’s been working on the project for a while, sneaking around her so it’ll be a surprise. fortunately, the doctors had said it was a simple hairline fracture and reiterated what Gorgeous Guy had said about him being lucky and to be more careful next time, ignoring his protests about there having been a  _ cat _ in the  _ road _ . 

chanyeol’s the one who usually makes the furniture for their orphanage, finding the work calming. sometimes baekhyun pitches in, surprisingly good with his hands as well, but he also gets bored really easily and wanders off to play with the kids instead. his most reliable helper is minseok, but now that he has recently gotten engaged he spends less and less of his extra time at the orphanage. they have a college part-timer, katy, but chanyeol could honestly use another set of hands. maybe he should put an ad in the newspaper.

chanyeol’s all the way home, shoving pizza in his mouth and watching deadpool for the millionth time, when he remembers the random text he’d gotten earlier in the day. he pulls his phone out — and almost drops it into a pristine slice of pepperoni pizza. 

_ I can’t believe you forgot about your near death experience so quickly _ , his screen says. he lets out a whoop. this kyungsoo person is Gorgeous Guy! 

a flurry of texts later, he figures out that kyungsoo is messaging him because he wants to meet up sometime so they can discuss compensation for the accident. chanyeol repeatedly tells him there’s no reason for him to pay anything, but even through text kyungsoo’s tone is brisk and insistent. 

_ do u have a dog _ , chanyeol asks, plan formulating in his head. he has to walk toben every day anyways, and this sunday is his day off.  _ also r u free sunday _

_ Two, and yes _ , kyungsoo sends back, and chanyeol fist pumps before he realizes he looks absolutely ridiculous. even kai is giving him a weird look, and kai is a ferret. they make plans to meet in the park on sunday, kyungsoo telling him he would’ve contacted chanyeol sooner but he’d been out of the city all week due to work. 

chanyeol allows himself a few minutes of wondering what kyungsoo does for work before deciding he’s maxed out on the amount of time he’s allowed to think about Gorgeous Guy, who he  _ now knows the name of _ . he polishes off the rest of the pizza and finishing the movie, his giant crush on ryan reynolds only increasing daily. but hey, ryan reynolds now has competition. 

baekhyun calls him as he’s brushing his teeth. 

“what’s up?” chanyeol says, except his mouth is full of toothpaste and it comes out sounding more like  _ whhhazgu?  _

“gross,” baekhyun says with authority, and chanyeol sticks his tongue out at himself in the mirror. “dude, can you call me back when you’re not deepthroating your toothbrush?” 

“that’s gay,” chanyeol says, inspecting his reflection. there’s a new zit on the side of his nose, and he glares at it, willing it to go away with his power of thought. he’s not even going through puberty anymore; this is so unfair. 

“so is you having the hots for ryan reynolds,” baekhyun points out, and chanyeol lifts a shoulder in a half-shrug before remembering baekhyun can’t see him. “anyway, you were totally out of it today. you good? is your arm bothering you extra or something?” 

say what you will about byun baekhyun; as loud and talkative as he is, the guy cares a lot about his friends. “i’m fine,” chanyeol says, plopping down awkwardly on his bed. he’d just been tired today, and those pain meds hasn’t helped. “actually, i’m better than fine. you remember how i told you the guy who hit me with his car was, like, really hot?” 

“only you,” baekhyun says a little mournfully, “would think the guy who almost killed you was hot.”

“shut up baekhyun, you’d think he was hot, too, trust me.” chanyeol stares at his cast. “listen, kyungsoo asked me to meet him, and we’re going to the park on sunday —”

“wait, did you say his name was kyungsoo?” baekhyun laughs in staccato, quite literally like  _ ha ha ha _ . “like do kyungsoo? short, sexy eyebrows, owl eyes?” 

“how’d you know?” 

“bro, we went to school together… we’re still in touch, actually! you’re damn right he’s hot. really hit the jackpot, didn’t you? out of all people to almost be run over by…” 

“don’t you dare make a move on him,” chanyeol threatens, even though baekhyun’s been dating some ultra hot ballet dancer named jongin for the past — huh. it’s been over half a year now. 

baekhyun just laughs. “you better dress nice. none of that ‘oh i’m just going to pull on one of my seven hundred identical hoodies i have in my closet’ stuff.”

“are you trying to give me fashion advice?  _ you _ ?” 

“hey, i look cute in everything,” baekhyun says. chanyeol has to agree. “look, kyungsoo’s a little intimidating at first, but inside he’s all gooey and mushy… like those chocolates, what are they called? they’re so good, fuck.” 

“focus,” chanyeol says, rolling his eyes. 

“right.” baekhyun pauses for what feels like forever, then says, “you know, i think he’ll like you. don’t stress too much.” 

“good  _ night _ , baekhyun,” chanyeol says. he feels oddly pleased, like he’s just won some kind of best friend approval medal, even though all he’s done is listen to baekhyun’s annoying voice. 

“love you!” baekhyun chirps, voice bright, and hangs up. he laughs, tossing his phone to the side. he loves that menace, too. 

it takes him an embarrassing amount of time for him to pull his shirt over his head while dealing with his broken arm, and by the time he’s done he’s too exhausted to change into something else. so he just sits back in bed and scrolls through his social media, glasses perched on his nose. he hurries past instagram posts of jongin on dates with baekhyun, the two of them obnoxiously in love, and jongdae tweeting about some weird customers he’d gotten at the food truck he owns with yixing and sehun, before getting the presence of mind to plug in  _ do kyungsoo _ into his search bar. ah, the age of internet stalking. 

to his surprise, there’s a lot of information about kyungsoo — something about him being poised to take over one of the biggest family-owned investment companies in the country, blah, blah. it all flies over his head, honestly, but he does understand two things: kyungsoo is rich, and he’s also kind of a big deal. there’s one article about his brother, too, but chanyeol doesn’t really care about him, so he doesn’t bother opening it. 

he almost falls off the bed and re-breaks his arm when he catches a glimpse of the time. it’s way too late; he has a long day tomorrow, a birthday party for one of his kids and a dinner with his sister firmly set into his schedule. putting his glasses on his bedside table and cradling his injured arm to his chest, he tries his hardest to escape into the magical world of dreamland, a place that loves him far more than the real world does. 

his dreams are really weird that night. he’s floating through space, except space is apparently made out of milkshake, and the planets are all giant eggs. one of them cracks its shell open like a mouth, yelling “ _ oh i’m just going to pull on one of my seven hundred identical hoodies i have in my closet _ ” in what is a horrible impersonation of baekhyun horribly impersonating chanyeol.

he wakes up with a headache, cursing the day he met byun baekhyun. 

 

 

“you know, i’m starting to think you enjoy being in a fur suit just a bit too much,” baekhyun says, giving chanyeol a serious side-eye.

chanyeol tugs at the collar of his mickey mouse costume, which is too hot in all the wrong places. “it’s not my fault jaden really likes mickey! i should’ve made you be minnie.”

“why,” baekhyun snickers. “i’m already his favorite.” chanyeol glares at him, but the effect is lost in the fact that he’s dressed up as a giant mouse. “besides, i was talking about sarah’s last birthday, where you dressed up as judy hopps even though she told me later that she’d never seen zootopia before…” 

“i had a spare judy hopps costume lying around,” chanyeol says without thinking. 

“you what.”

“my last boyfriend was into some weird stuff, okay?”

“i do  _ not _ want to know,” baekhyun says, looking two seconds from puking all over chanyeol’s fur feet. paws. 

“it’s not what you —”

“chanyeol,  _ shut up _ !” 

their bickering is interrupted by cake, which solves many unsolvable problems, and eventually after a round of presents and a frantic game of tag chanyeol is allowed to go wiggle out of the suit and bring his guitar. he sits down in front of the circle of kids, all of them wearing party hats and looking angelic. he loves them. 

they all sing happy birthday again, even though personally chanyeol is  _ not _ the biggest fan of that song. baekhyun makes it a personal challenge to sing loudest as usual, his voice soaring (off-key, unless he’s in the mood) above the rest. he also mostly unsuccessfully shows off dance moves jongin had tried to teach him, lacking the grace and finesse that makes jongin a professional, but it’s entertaining regardless. the kids all love the mini concerts they put on.

chanyeol strums his guitar. “i love you, jaden,” he sings. “i’ll never stop loving you… jaden.”

baekhyun smacks him.

 

 

all of a sudden it’s sunday, and chanyeol, his dream echoing in his head, puts on a nice shirt and nice pants and nice shoes. he preens in front of the mirror for maybe an extra ten minutes, even though in the back of his mind he knows toben’s going to wipe all this effort off of him in no time at all. 

“look, buddy,” he says, crouching in front of toben and giving him his best authoritative stare, “dad’s on his way to getting some action, okay? so just be good like you always are, and don’t pee all over his expensive shoes or something. good?” 

toben gives him a dirty look. 

“okay,” chanyeol says. “yeah, that’s fair.”

turning to kai the ferret, he just gives him a solemn nod before clipping their leashes on and heading to the park. he wanders for at least five minutes before he spots Gorgeous Guy — kyungsoo — sitting on a bench with two tiny, adorable dogs frolicking (for lack of a better word) by his feet. 

chanyeol lets out a war cry, forgetting about kyungsoo in favor of running at his dogs. “so  _ cute _ !” he says, offering his hands to them. when he looks up, kyungsoo is staring at him, jaw slack. 

“what’re their names?” chanyeol asks a little self-consciously. 

“meokmul and huchu,” kyungsoo begins, and chanyeol drowns him out with a loud coo, introducing his pets to kyungsoo’s excitedly. 

“do you think,” chanyeol says, looking huchu in the eyes, “your dad would mind if i stole you two from him? there’s plenty of space in my apartment.” there really isn’t, but he’s willing to adjust a little, especially considering toben and kai both seem to like kyungsoo’s dogs. 

“i’m more like the cool uncle,” kyungsoo says stiffly from above him, and chanyeol lets out a surprised laugh.

“did you just make a joke? you did, didn’t you?” 

kyungsoo merely stands, brushing invisible specks of dirt off his shirt. chanyeol had half expected him to show up in a white button down and slacks, but he’s just wearing a black t-shirt… and black jeans… and black shoes... at least his socks are white.

“let’s go,” he says when chanyeol’s been staring at him for too long. 

“right!” they walk in a mildly uncomfortable silence for several minutes before chanyeol can’t take it anymore. “i meant what i said, you know? you really don’t have to compensate me for anything. this” — he waves his arm with the cast in the air, accidentally almost hitting kyungsoo in the face — “is barely anything. i’ll be good in a few weeks.” 

“i insist,” kyungsoo says flatly. “i’ll pay your hospital bills; i’m sorry i couldn’t do it before, since i was busy all week. meetings.” a small shadow passes over his face, gone as quick as it came. “seriously, stop trying to argue with me.” 

“it wasn’t even your fault,” chanyeol whines, before kyungsoo sends him a glare that shuts him up. “fine. since you’re so willing to help, why don’t you lend a hand at the orphanage?” 

“what?” 

“i work at an orphanage,” chanyeol explains. “the guy who runs it recently got engaged, and he’s been pretty busy, understandably. we could use some extra help.” 

kyungsoo is quiet, and chanyeol’s scared he’s overstepped his bounds. as much as he’s asking him because he really does need another person, he also selfishly wants to spend time with him. but maybe kyungsoo just wants to pay and go and doesn’t want anything to do with him beyond that. 

“okay,” he finally says, and chanyeol tries not to too obviously sigh with relief. “by the way, uh. is kai a ferret?” 

“yeah,” chanyeol says, excited. “y’know, ferrets aren’t too different from, like, a dog. you just have to give them space to play. and lots of love.” 

“i’m sure you have more than enough of that,” kyungsoo says. his voice is quiet, measured, but when chanyeol sneaks a glance at him he’s smiling down at the leashes held in his hand.

 

 

kyungsoo’s gone again the next day, but he hadn’t seemed too happy about it, judging from the passive-aggressive way he’d texted him. baekhyun had said something along the lines of “dude, how can you tell through text” and chanyeol had said something dumb back like “well, maybe i’m a kyungsoo whisperer.” he’s never going to live that one down. 

he has bigger things to worry about, anyway — there’s about to be a new addition to their family, and he’s not about to let them fall prey to baekhyun’s charms. 

“she’s a transfer,” the social worker explains. “there were too many people in the last orphanage and she volunteered for the change in pace.” makes sense; she’s an older kid, probably going to be more adaptable.

“hey,” chanyeol says gently. “what’s your name?” 

“kimberly,” she says, staring up at him through her thick glasses. she’s short, and has frizzy red hair that’s doing its absolute best to escape her ponytail, and chanyeol loves her already. 

he walks her through the rules of the place; lights out at ten pm for her age and wake up at seven in the morning, every kid is assigned to do some household chore to keep things running easier, and there’s always going to be at least two adults around to keep an eye on them, but older children need to keep an eye out for the younger ones as well. she takes it all in with quiet nods and big eyes, and suddenly chanyeol is reminded of kyungsoo. 

smiling wryly to himself, he hands her off to baekhyun for a tour and settles back into his desk to do the paperwork necessary to finish the transfer. he has night shift tonight; that means he’s leading the afternoon study session and sleeping here. he likes it, because his apartment is a little lonely, and the kids love when he brings over toben and kai. speaking of — he checks kimberly’s file for any allergies and lets out a tiny sigh of relief when he sees the  _ N/A _ . he’d hate to stop bringing his babies over. 

chanyeol gets kind of emotional when he helps his kids with their homework. the math only seems to be getting harder and his kids only seem to be getting older. maybe he’s stupid to be tearing up over the fact that jaden’s doing multiplication with double digit numbers instead of just single digit, but he’s been there through two years of his childhood already. he remembers when another one of their kids, max, took his first steps, teetering forward into chanyeol’s arms. minseok had filmed all of it, including chanyeol sobbing into baekhyun’s shoulder and leaving his t-shirt soaked.

max is currently sleeping in minseok’s hold, little two and a half year old body nestled in the curve of his neck. chanyeol smiles at the sight, and minseok gives him a knowing look back. 

when it hits eight, the younger kids are already yawning, and chanyeol hands them off to baekhyun so he can get them to sleep. baekhyun’s a bit of a nerd, and he tells them bedtime stories from history to get them to go to sleep. it’s more entertaining than anything chanyeol had learned in school, that’s for sure; his favorite is the one of caesar upping his own ransom.

kyungsoo calls him when he’s cleaning up, and he plops down in an armchair, exhausted with the effort of doing everything one-handed and happy to take a break. “hey, how’s your trip?” 

“fine,” kyungsoo says, sounding like it’s anything but fine. “i actually called you to get my mind off things.”

“okay,” chanyeol says. “one of my kids had a birthday party a couple days ago and i dressed up as mickey mouse. god, i hated that costume. couldn’t wait to get out of it.”

kyungsoo lets out a breath. “send me a picture.” there’s amusement in his tone, and chanyeol grins even though he’s not there to see it. 

“do you want them with the ears on or off?” he says lightly, and this time kyungsoo laughs, like actually  _ laughs _ , and chanyeol almost falls out of his seat. he’s around children and puppies all day, but damn if kyungsoo’s laugh isn’t the absolute cutest thing he’s heard in his life. 

“both,” kyungsoo answers, and chanyeol covers his phone so he can squeal. “tell me what you did today.”

so chanyeol describes to him the horror of discovering not one but  _ two _ bees in his apartment and having to get rid of them one-handed (kyungsoo tries to apologize again but chanyeol’s not having it) and how kai had been awfully clingy and had almost made him late for work. he wants to ask about kyungsoo’s day, but he gets the fact that he’s being used as a distraction, so it must not have been a good one. 

“thank you,” kyungsoo says softly when chanyeol wraps up a long-winded spiel on the beauty of ryan reynold’s eye wrinkles. with a start of surprise, he registers that they’ve been talking for almost two hours. well, chanyeol’s done most of the talking. 

“yeah, anytime,” chanyeol says, voice a little hoarse. “w-when are you back?”

“tomorrow,” kyungsoo says, hesitating. “is it okay if i stop by in two days?” 

“yes!” he answers, trying not to sound too eager and utterly failing. kyungsoo laughs softly and chanyeol feels like he’s won the lottery.

 

 

if he’s being honest, chanyeol totally forgets that kyungsoo’s supposed to visit. he’s awkwardly trying to sweep the hallway when he spots him and baekhyun laughing about something in the doorway. 

“no!” he shrieks, brandishing the broom like a spear. “not another word, byun baekhyun. if you  _ dare _ ruin my image —”

baekhyun rolls his eyes at him. “who even said we were talking about you, you egomaniacal freak? besides, soo and i are friends. if i wanted to tell him all the embarrassing things about you, i would’ve just done it over text. you don’t deserve a face to face conversation.” 

he’d be offended if kyungsoo wasn’t laughing. “whatever.” 

“relax,” baekhyun snickers. “you’ll embarrass yourself enough  _ without _ my help.” 

chanyeol smacks him with the butt of the broom. “go finish sweeping, byun. do some work for a change; i’ll entertain the guest.” snorting, baekhyun runs off, wiggling his fingers at the two of them in goodbye.

“i don’t want to be entertained,” kyungsoo tells him, all small and serious with his glasses and his plain black shirt and his pretty lips and his — “i want to help.” 

_ quit staring, you creep _ , chanyeol thinks. “okay,” he says out loud. “i’m gonna have you help kimberly wash dishes.” 

it’s funny watching kyungsoo and kimberly introduce themselves to each other; they’re really similar and they both just kind of quietly give each other these really shy smiles before kyungsoo rolls his sleeves up (chanyeol almost chokes on empty air) and gets to work, the two of them washing and drying side by side. it’s honestly really cute, and chanyeol watches them with a small smile on his face for a bit before realizing he’s being weird and putting the dry dishes away. 

when they’re done and chanyeol sets kimberly up with a book to read (harry potter, an intellectual choice), he gives kyungsoo a tour of the place. it isn’t that big; it’s really just a big house with a lot of bedrooms and a nice kitchen and a study for the kids to all come together to do their homework. there’s a nice sized backyard for whenever chanyeol brings his babies or baekhyun brings mongryong. those are the kids’ favorite days — those and when uncle jongin comes over to help out and give them impromptu dance recitals. jongin’s good with kids, and it’s cute, and baekhyun really agrees, always giving him that dopey ‘i’m-in-love-with-you’ smile whenever he’s around. chanyeol vows that he and kyungsoo will one day reach that stage. 

kyungsoo asks a lot of questions, about the process of gaining kids (or giving them up for adoption, which is sadly a rare occurrence) and what it’s like seeing them grow up in front of you.

“i’ve only been here two years,” chanyeol says. “if you want real mushy accounts, you should ask minseok. he’s been running this place since he was twenty; it’s been nine years now.” 

“i really like it here,” kyungsoo says simply.

chanyeol swells with pride. “you’re welcome whenever,” he tells kyungsoo. “like i said, any help is appreciated. especially with this.” he raises his left arm slightly. 

kyungsoo opens his mouth to apologize and chanyeol runs through several options in his head: a) he kisses kyungsoo before he can say anything, which would be incredibly stupid of him; b) he punches kyungsoo (lightly, of course) like he’s been threatening to do every time he’s said sorry; c) he covers his ears with his hands and runs in the opposite direction. 

he settles with a “don’t say sorry, just come here regularly” and feels accomplished when kyungsoo nods.

“so did you tell him about the furry thing?” baekhyun says, appearing out of nowhere, and at chanyeol’s stricken look, he claps a hand over his mouth. “oh, shit. sorry.”

 

 

kyungsoo shows up eight more times in between trips out of the city, looking more and more reluctant to leave each time, before chanyeol coaxes him to come hang out at his apartment after his shift ends. 

it’s taken time, but kyungsoo has gradually put down his walls and begun to tell chanyeol more about himself instead of just asking chanyeol to talk endlessly. (which he’s more than happy to do, but still.) he tells chanyeol about his brother, junmyeon, who likes star wars and telling bad jokes and playing pool, and about how if he could be an animal for a day he’d be a cat because they take naps all the time and do what they want with no responsibilities on their shoulders. 

“i’d probably be a ferret,” chanyeol says in response. “give kai some company.” kyungsoo laughs at him.

“do you cook?” kyungsoo asks him through a mouthful of noodles. he’d told him he was craving chinese and he’d promptly ordered from yixing’s parent’s place, right next door to his apartment. he swears he makes up ninety percent of their orders. 

“yep!” chanyeol says, almost dropping a piece of orange chicken onto his pants in his haste to get it in his mouth. “i make a mean chicken alfredo. my mom owns an italian restaurant and she’s amazing and taught me everything i know.” 

kyungsoo smiles shyly. “i’m good at lasagna.”

“my mom makes great lasagna!” chanyeol brags. “bet it’s better than yours.”

“i’m really famous for mine, actually,” kyungsoo says, leaning back and scratching at his tummy. chanyeol almost jumps him to kiss him all over his face. he’s really got to get a hold of himself. 

“tell you what. once i get this cast off, i’ll cook you my mom’s lasagna by the book, and you’ll cook yours, and even though mine won’t be as good as the original it’ll still blow yours out of the water because my mom is  _ that _ amazing. deal?”

kyungsoo shakes, saying, “winner gets what?” 

“a kiss?” chanyeol answers cheekily, and immediately the smile drops off of kyungsoo’s face. “oh, shit, sorry. i’m sorry, i didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable —” 

“it’s okay,” kyungsoo says, quiet, and it’s clearly not okay and chanyeol kind of hates himself. 

“i’m really sorry,” he repeats. “i just… never mind. do you wanna watch a movie or something?” 

the thing is, whatever feelings he had for kyungsoo may have been simple infatuation at first, but they’re real now. he  _ likes _ him, likes him a lot, likes his laugh and the way his eyebrows draw together when he’s being serious and how he’s always so patient with toben and kai and the kids at the orphanage and how he never complains when chanyeol talks for too long about the dumbest things. so if kyungsoo wants him to jump through fifty hoops that are on fire and floating twenty feet in the air to make things less awkward between the two of them then chanyeol’s gonna fucking do it. 

fortunately, kyungsoo is more easily appeased. “can you play your guitar again?” he’d sat in one of the concert nights at the orphanage, refusing to sing no matter how much chanyeol had needled. he’d even resisted his best puppy eyes, even though chanyeol swears that if he’d kept at it for just a few more minutes he would’ve broken through. 

ready and willing to do anything kyungsoo asks, he gets his guitar out, kai choosing that moment to be clingy and climb into his lap. he shoos him off gently, and kai, giving him a look of disgust, scrambles into kyungsoo’s instead. kyungsoo stares down at the ferret on his legs and chanyeol can’t help it; he snickers, and soon the two of them are full on laughing and chanyeol feels a lot better. 

 

 

“oh my god,  _ you’re _ the one bribing the kids with ice cream,” chanyeol says, mouth open as he watches minseok guiltily try to hide jaden’s red stained mouth behind his back. jaden’s a loud kid, with everything about him sticking out, from his ears to the mass of curly hair on his head to his tongue, often, at the other kids. he reminds chanyeol of himself, except maybe a little smarter. 

“technically, it’s a popsicle,” minseok says. 

chanyeol shakes his head. “i must apologize to baekhyun immediately,” he intones, then cracks up at minseok’s disbelieving look. “i finally get my cast off today, so i’m off to the hospital. you’ll be fine without me, yeah?” 

“we’ll crash and burn, come back quick,” minseok says drily. “actually, there’s something i have to ask you.” 

“ooookay…”

“so, um. this is me inviting you to my wedding,” minseok says, and chanyeol gasps dramatically. “it’s in two weeks, and i’ll send you an —”

“look, i know you two are doing this lowkey, but if you say email i’ll not show up,” chanyeol threatens. “i want one of those fancy invitations with the cursive lettering and the curls and stuff, whatever. in the mail. you can put the details on that.”

“do you really want one of those?”

“yes,” chanyeol says. _obviously_. 

minseok smiles. “try not to cry too much.”

“no promises.” he’ll definitely cry too much.

jaden tugs on minseok’s hand with sticky fingers, and says, “are we invited?” 

minseok’s eyes crinkle. he has a nice smile and a youthful face, and all the kids call him the cool dad. at least now chanyeol knows why. (baekhyun’s the nerd one and chanyeol’s weird; he’d be lying if he didn’t find it cute. their kids are all cute.) “yeah, of course you are. all of you are coming.” 

“i’ve never been to a wedding,” jaden tells them seriously. “will there be cake?”

“a big one,” minseok promises. “lots of layers. and there’ll be dancing, and pretty lights, and…” he looks a little wistful, and chanyeol scrubs at his eyes, pretending to be tearing up. “oh, shut up. you’ll know when you get married.”

“you sound like you’re my dad,” chanyeol says. “i gotta go. don’t forget to send me that invitation.  _ dear park chanyeol, you are cordially invited to share the happiness _ …” minseok throws the ice cream wrapper at him, and he ducks, laughing. 

it’s nice, that minseok’s getting married, but chanyeol’s not sure how well he’s going to juggle spending time here and time with his wife, who works at a law firm downtown. he really should put an ad in the newspaper. 

 

 

he’s walking toben and kai in the park again when out of nowhere kyungsoo appears beside him with his own dogs. he takes an earbud out, staring, and kyungsoo gives him a shy smile that ties his stomach into knots. “hey? i thought you were out of town for the weekend?” 

“i’m supposed to be.” kyungsoo bites his lip, looking a little uncomfortable. “i kind of… left. just walked out of the meeting and flew back here”

“is everything okay?” it’s not that kyungsoo looks like something terrible happened; on the contrary, he looks a lot freer and happier than chanyeol would expect from someone who walked out of something that was probably really important. but chanyeol has been cataloguing the tiny wrinkles in his forehead and around his eyes, and the ratio of his frowns to his smiles, and he thinks that whatever’s going on with kyungsoo is only getting worse. 

kyungsoo’s full on chewing on his bottom lip now, and chanyeol bumps him a little with his elbow. “hey. you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. i can just talk about myself…” 

“yeah, i bet you’d just hate doing that,” kyungsoo teases, a little gratefully. “it’s just that i don’t…” he takes a breath and chanyeol nods, encouraging. “i’m supposed to be taking over my dad’s company, right? i’m sure you’ve read the articles, or seen them, whatever. but that’s not really something i want to be doing.” 

kai’s leash almost gets tangled with huchu’s, and kyungsoo gives it a tug, maybe a little harder than necessary. “running an investment firm is so much more up junmyeon’s alley — and he’s the older brother, so it was going to go to him anyway, until…” 

“until what?” chanyeol prompts. this is the most information kyungsoo has volunteered about himself, about his family, yet. everything he’d told chanyeol about junmyeon had been fluff, and he hadn’t talked about his dad at all. 

“until he fell in love with a man,” kyungsoo says, and chanyeol thinks,  _ oh _ . “junmyeon got a boyfriend, minho, and when dad found out he was furious. something about tainting the family name or whatever. there was a big fight, and… well, dad didn’t want to give the company to me, either, because i’m adopted.” his knuckles are white where he’s holding on to meokmul and huchu’s leashes. “it was… it was awful, and junmyeon left to go live with minho, and now i’m expected to everything he was supposed to.” 

“so your dad,” chanyeol says, “is a homophobic piece of shit.” 

kyungsoo looks a little surprised. “y-yeah. yeah, and you know what the worst part is? junmyeon really wanted to do it. he was excited about it, too — he really loves the work, and i bet if dad gave him another chance he’d do it.” 

“what do  _ you _ want to do?” chanyeol asks gently. kyungsoo must not have been asked the question many times in his life, because he falls silent, looking slightly confused. 

“i-i don’t know,” he admits. “even before all of this, i wasn't sure what i wanted to do with myself.” he shrugs. “i guess it doesn’t really matter now. i’m not getting a choice either way.” 

“thank you for telling me,” chanyeol says, and kyungsoo nods but his eyes are a little glassy and chanyeol can tell all of this has taken a lot out of him. “we don’t have to talk about this anymore. i finally, as you can see, got my cast off, and we are definitely going to have that cook-off soon.” 

finally cracking a smile again, kyungsoo says, “i’ll beat you. you can do my laundry for a month.” 

“you’re rich,” chanyeol protests. “don’t you have someone to do your laundry for you?” kyungsoo just laughs at him, not saying anything. chanyeol’s glad he hasn’t brought up the fact that he’d jokingly asked for a kiss, his reaction making a lot more sense after what kyungsoo had told him. in fact, now chanyeol gets all the times kyungsoo had pulled away a little every time chanyeol’s joking had strayed a little too close to the topic of him having a giant crush on kyungsoo. 

“okay, not to be cheesy or anything,” chanyeol says, “but i’m really glad you almost ran me over.” 

kyungsoo smiles. “i’m really glad i almost ran you over, too.” 

 

 

the dresser for sarah is finally finished, and just in time, too, because her birthday is right around the corner. they agree on heading to the nearest inflatafull on the special day. it’s filled to the brim with bouncy castles and giant inflatable slides and stuff that kids love, and there’ll be cake (red velvet, sarah’s favorite), and maybe chanyeol is even more excited than all the kids are even though he won’t be allowed on any of the inflatables. 

he invites kyungsoo, too; he’s thankfully in town for once and it only takes a little bit of chanyeol’s needling this time around to convince him to show up. he’s making progress. 

even jongin makes an appearance, immediately latching to baekhyun’s side like he’s one of the kids himself. baekhyun doesn’t mind at all; he feeds off attention, and bonus points if it’s his pretty boyfriend. chanyeol’s also pretty sure sarah has a giant crush on jongin, so what better birthday present, really? 

they make it all the way through cake and presents before disaster strikes. the kids are all back on the inflatables, bouncing and mock fighting away, when all of a sudden there’s a loud, piercing shriek from the shark slide. blood chilling, chanyeol runs over to find kimberly clutching her arm to her chest, tears running down her face.

“it hurts,” she says through sobs, and chanyeol grabs the nearest person (it’s katy) and demands that he call an ambulance. 

“hey,” he says, pulling her into a hug, careful not to jostle her arm. “you’ll be okay. promise. it happened to me, right? you saw how quick that cast came off; you’ll be up and at it again in no time.” it's like the universe is playing a practical joke on them.

chanyeol gets called away to talk to a staff member and figure things out, and when he gets back he sees kyungsoo with kimberly, one of her small hands in his square ones. he’s singing to her softly, eyes unfocused. his voice sounds like every single good thing in the world all wrapped into one.

“you’re going to the hospital,” he says, approaching them slowly. kyungsoo shuts up almost immediately. “you’ll be better soon, okay? and we’ll sign your cast and everything the way mine was.” kimberly nods, and he lets baekhyun lead her to the waiting ambulance, choosing to hang back with kyungsoo. 

“well,” chanyeol says slowly, “we’ve had better birthday parties.” he rubs at his forehead, all tensed up, and almost jumps when kyungsoo places a hand on his back. 

“you were right,” kyungsoo tells him, rubbing slowly. it’s soothing, and chanyeol relaxes into his touch, the pent-up tension smoothing out of his neck and shoulders. “everything will be okay.” 

 

 

kyungsoo was right about his lasagna cooking skills, but chanyeol was also right about his mother’s. baekhyun and jongin are lounging on the sofas in chanyeol’s apartment, kai curled in jongin’s lap. even mongryong has come, and toben is chasing around him in circles while he watches primly. they’re (the humans, not the pets) are going to be the judges of their competition, and to make sure they don’t choose kyungsoo’s over his just because they like kyungsoo better (not that he’ll blame them), chanyeol has put the two lasagnas in unmarked containers that look exactly alike. he’s leaving nothing to chance. 

it’s a tie.

chanyeol is not having it. “just... one of you change your opinions, or something!” baekhyun and jongin both shrug, too busy canoodling to care. “fine. i’m calling minseok —”

“minseok,” baekhyun says, rolling his eyes, “is probably having amazing sex right now.” he kicks at chanyeol’s knee with his sock covered foot. repeatedly. “ _ we  _ could be having amazing sex right now, but instead we’re here with you two idiots. just accept the tie.” 

“so we both lose,” chanyeol complains. “i’m not a loser. don’t do this to me.”

“or,” baekhyun says, running his hands through jongin’s hair, “you both  _ win _ .” 

“you whine too much,” jongin tells chanyeol, matter-of-fact. “and this is coming from someone who’s dating baekhyun.” 

chanyeol lets out a low groan, slumping against kyungsoo’s shoulder. kyungsoo gives him a small smile, and feeling better in a heartbeat, he says, “fine. we might as well finish these, then.” truthfully, even he’s forgotten which one’s which, and it doesn’t really matter because they’re both delicious. 

they sit in a circle, watching star wars. baekhyun provides running commentary, which is why chanyeol never watches new releases with him, and kyungsoo shoots him a disgruntled look every now and then that gets him to shut up for a grand total of two minutes before he’s back at it. 

“kyungsoo would have a green lightsaber, i think,” baekhyun says, licking cheese off his fingers. “jonginnie’s would be blue. chanyeol, you wouldn’t be a jedi.” 

“what about you?” he asks, leaning his head onto kyungsoo’s half-unconsciously. kyungsoo doesn’t even react. “what color would your’s be?” 

“pink,” baekhyun answers, and he lets out a snort. of course. “i’m serious! i’d be an amazing jedi, with a cool pink lightsaber.” 

“you wouldn’t last a day in the jedi order,” jongin says, snickering, and baekhyun offers him a brilliant enough grin that jongin leans forward to peck him on the cheek. chanyeol kicks them out soon afterward, cursing their judging skills and telling them to be safe the entire time. 

“you’re ridiculous,” kyungsoo says when chanyeol’s done standing in the doorway and waving. there’s a smile on his face and his cheeks look really round and his eyes are drooping a little and chanyeol is totally and absolutely in love with him. 

“and you are no liar,” chanyeol says, patting his stomach. 

out of the corner of his eye, he spots kai asleep and toben looking a little put out that mongryong has left him. he gets kai in his cage and soon enough toben is sleeping too, curled up in the little dog bed chanyeol had built for him himself. kyungsoo helps him clean up, throwing paper plates and napkins in the trash, the two of them working side by side in comfortable silence. 

“you have a really nice singing voice,” chanyeol says. kyungsoo is standing really close to him, and at his words he looks up, eyes wide, staring right into chanyeol’s face. “what?” 

kyungsoo reaches his hand over, laying it flat on chanyeol’s chest, and chanyeol is confused. licking his lips, he fights to keep his voice steady. “uh… kyungsoo?” kyungsoo’s fingers curl into his shirt. “uh. what are you doing?” 

“you said” — kyungsoo’s voice is so deep — “winner gets a kiss. we both won.” 

chanyeol’s not sure he’s heard correctly. “what?” 

“you’re so stupid,” kyungsoo says, impossibly fond.

then kyungsoo’s mouth is on chanyeol’s and his brain sprouts wings and nose-dives out of his second floor window, screaming  _ do kyungsoo is kissing me!!! i am being kissed by do kyungsoo!!! _ the entire time. kyungsoo’s palms are soft, unlike chanyeol’s, which are calloused from all the times he’s played guitar or built furniture, and he holds chanyeol’s face in them so softly chanyeol almost starts crying mid-kiss. 

kyungsoo pulls back first. “that’s for  _ your _ win.” his eyes crinkle. “congratulations.” 

chanyeol gets the hint, leaning back in for another kiss. he gets a little over-enthusiastic, their noses bumping awkwardly together before they find their rhythm again, mouths sliding soft and slow against one another. he really, really likes kissing kyungsoo. 

this time, it’s chanyeol who breaks the kiss, blurting, “but what about your dad?”

“can you please not talk about my dad while i’m trying to kiss you,” kyungsoo grumbles. 

“fair enough,” chanyeol murmurs, kissing him again. and again. and again. 

 

 

the evening is nice and warm, a slight breeze keeping it from getting too stuffy. chanyeol keeps getting distracted by the fairy lights strung up around the place, little pinpricks of swaying light in the steadily darkening sky. there’s a box of flowers at the end of every aisle and chanyeol's sitting right next to one, which wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t visited by the occasional bee that makes him cringe into kyungsoo’s side. 

it’s the day of minseok’s wedding, and chanyeol has cried three times already; once when kyungsoo had showed up at his door wearing a suit and looking impossibly handsome and then completely confused as to why he’s  _ crying _ , again when he’d laid his eyes on the kids all dressed up and fancy, and lastly and most forcefully when minseok had kissed his beautiful wife. 

baekhyun had been the one who’d caught the bouquet, and he’d promptly turned bright red and hid behind jongin, who’d tried to hide behind him. it had been entertaining to watch, almost as much as jaden running by with his mouth smeared with cake and hyped up on sugar yelling about how much he loved weddings and wanted to go to one at least once a year. he’ll have a good time at baekhyun and jongin’s. 

they’re dancing now, kyungsoo flush against his chest with his head tucked under his chin. chanyeol kind of feels like he’s floating even though every time he looks down, yep, his feet are firmly on the ground. (he has to look down a lot to make sure he’s not stepping all over kyungsoo’s shoes.) 

“you know,” kyungsoo says, “i’ve been thinking about it.”

“about what?” 

“my dad.” chanyeol makes a face, and kyungsoo laughs. “he can’t disown the both of us and expect to keep the company in the family as well. i talked to junmyeon, too, and we’re both willing to go in and have a… chat with him. if i can convince him to give the company back to junmyeon, the both of us are happy. it’s worth a try.” 

“so did you figure out what you want to do?” chanyeol asks, accidentally almost pulling kyungsoo’s shoe off. “shit, sorry.” baekhyun and jongin glide by them, baekhyun standing on jongin’s shoes. he debates trying that with kyungsoo but they’d both probably just fall over. 

“if it’s okay with you, i’d like to work at the orphanage,” kyungsoo says, and chanyeol comes to an abrupt stop. 

“of  _ course _ it’s okay with me!” he babbles. “baekhyun and minseok are definitely okay with it as well. so are the kids. seriously. no one is going to mind. oh my god.” 

“you should probably start moving again,” kyungsoo says, amused. he leans up to press a small kiss to chanyeol’s lips and chanyeol melts into his embrace, smiling against kyungsoo’s mouth. “i love you, chanyeol.” 

“i love you too,” chanyeol says, except it comes out more like  _ ilouvyboufsnt _ . he has to look up into the sky to keep the tears suddenly stinging his eyes from falling. the night is pretty, littered with stars, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the grin on kyungsoo’s face. “hey, soo? why can’t i see the stars?” 

kyungsoo frowns. “maybe you should get your eyes checked.” 

“it’s because,” chanyeol says seriously, looking him right in the eyes, “you outshine them all.” 

**Author's Note:**

> (kyungsoo totally blushes at that cheesy ass line chanyeol said even if he pretends he doesn't)
> 
> you would not believe how many times i typed ‘Gorgeous Gay’ instead of ‘Gorgeous Guy’
> 
> story time: julius caesar (same guy who was stabbed to death by his best bud & co.) was like 25 when he was out sailing and got himself captured by sicilian pirates. they originally asked for twenty talents of silver to get him back (~$600,000) and our man, hyped up on his own self-importance, laughed at them and made them change it to fifty talents, which took his men like forty days to gather. so while he was with them for that time, he basically treated them like his subordinates and made them be the audience for his speeches and stuff, and eventually the pirates started to respect his egotistical ass or whatever and essentially let him do whatever he wanted while still being held captive. now caesar didn’t like that so he kept threatening to come back when he was free and get revenge, and they didn’t take him seriously, because when he was freed he raised a small fleet and went to take over the island he’d been captured on they were still there. so he took them prisoner and got his fifty talents back, and then he crucified them. nice guy.
> 
> thank you for reading ♡


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